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Blues Lyrics - Blind Willie McTell
Scarey Day Blues
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by
Blind Willie McTell
recording of October 1931, Atlanta
from
Doing That Atlanta (1927-1935) (Yazoo 1037)
&
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1927-1931) (Document DOCD-5006)
&
The Definitive Blind Willie McTell (Columbia/Legacy 475701 or C2K-53234)
My good gal got a
mojo
, she's tryin' to keep it hid
My gal got a mojo, she's tryin' to keep it hid
But Georgia Bill
got something to find that mojo with
I said she got that mojo and she won't let me see
She got that mojo and she won't let me see
And every time I start to love her she's tried to put that
jinx
on me
Well, she shakes like the Central
and she wobbles like the L&N
She shakes like the Central and she wobbles like the L&N
Well, she's a hot-shot mama and I'm scared to tell her where I been
Said my baby got something, she won't tell her daddy what it is
Said my baby got something, she won't tell her daddy what it is
But when I crawls into my bed, I just can't keep my black stuff still
__________
Note 1: tryin' to keep it hid
, the concealment of the mojo hand is what has led to confusion about the meaning of the word. Many acoustic rural blues songs of the 1920s-30s refer to mojos, among them a dozen that carry a floating verse about "keeping a mojo hid". Since the least conspicuous way for a woman to wear a hidden mojo is hanging from a string under her skirt - or, as Coot Grant put it, above her knee - a male blues singer is making a double entendre when he declares he's going to find that mojo. It's a sexual joke, but the mojo itself is not sexual;
Note 2: Georgia Bill
, the reference in the third line to "Georgia Bill" is explained by the fact that Willie Samuel McTell recorded for several competing labels under an assortment of pseudonyms including Georgia Bill, Hot Shot Willie, Blind Sammie, and Barrelhouse Sammy. "Scarey Day Blues" was a "Georgia Bill" recording, cut in Atlanta in October, 1931 for the Okeh label;
Note 3: Central
, probably the the Illinois Central (I.C.) railroad line running from Miami (Florida), through Jacksonville and Birmingham to Chicago (Illinois).;
Note 4: L&N
, the Louisville (Kentucky) & Nashville (Tennessee) Railroad (L&N) was chartered March 5 1850 and a 186 mile line was opened between its namesake cities on October 27, 1859. Pictures of the L&N are available at the site of the
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
Here is the table of contents.
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